The Braves said they received an influx of hate mail in the past week over comments Hank Aaron made to USA Today. Aaron spoke to media outlets last week around the 40-year anniversary of his breaking Babe Ruth’s home run record.

“My old man instilled in my mind from a young age, the only good (racial slur) is a dead (racial slur).”

One of the letters Aaron received before he broke Ruth’s record.AP

The new flood of racist bile started with Aaron explaining why he keeps the hate mail he received 40 years ago when it was clear he was going break Ruth’s record. Aaron, who finished his career with 755 home runs, was asked why he’s held on to the mail through the years.

“To remind myself that we are not that far removed from when I was chasing the record. If you think that, you are fooling yourself. A lot of things have happened in this country, but we have so far to go. There’s not a whole lot that has changed,” Aaron said.

“We can talk about baseball. Talk about politics. Sure, this country has a black president, but when you look at a black president, President Obama is left with his foot stuck in the mud from all of the Republicans with the way he’s treated. We have moved in the right direction, and there have been improvements, but we still have a long ways to go. The bigger difference is back then they had hoods. Now they have neckties and starched shirts.”